Of Goblins and Plagiarism
by Starlan
Summary: Sarah loves her job teaching High School English most days, but some days are almost not worth waking up for. A slight bit of silliness might be found inside. T for safety and future possibilities.
1. Plagiarism Aboveground

_Disclaimer: I do not own labyrinth, or any characters from it. I do own my OCs though. Huh, I actually have OCs to own. That's a first. Anyway, I also do not own the definition of plagiarism (came from ), nor do I own the paraphrasing about school policies and such. That bit mostly came from a syllabus of mine from one of my courses last spring._

Authors note: Hi everyone who may or may not me reading this, I haven't written fanfic in several years, let alone posted it. I have been lurking though, through many fandoms, though currently mostly Labyrinth and Stargate. Also, I have no beta, so I apologize in advance for any and all mistakes.

Now

Sarah stumbled through the door to her apartment, utterly exhausted. Most days, she loved her job. She loved sharing her love of books with students, and encouraging the few budding authors in her class to pursue their dreams. She loved the after school drama club, attempting to inspire would be actors and actresses to spread their wings and take flight. She generally didn't even mind grading the papers she assigned. She always tried to pick topics that both she and the majority of her class would enjoy. This last one in particular, she had thought they would find at least somewhat fun. Most of the students had. After all, how hard is it to just make up your very own short story? But of course, there was one student who had to go and screw it all up.

The day Before

It was Thursday, the day the papers were due in Sarah's Junior honors English class. It had gone surprisingly well so far. Everyone had turned in a story, even her one trouble maker in the class, a girl who seemed to be of the opinion that she would somehow pass the class without doing any work at all. Sarah should have known right then that it was all going to go horribly wrong. But she had optimistically continued with her day, and when she got home, she ate dinner, sat down on the couch, and pulled out the papers just to glance through. She wasn't planning on actually grading them until the weekend. As she flipped through them, one in particular jumped out at her.

"Once upon a time," '_Seriously? Who the heck still started a story with that in eleventh grade? In an Honors English class no less?' _Sarah thought, beginning to feel a migraine coming on. She looked up at the right corner of the paper and was unsurprised to see Emily Watson, the name of the girl she had secretly began to think of as her nemesis. With a sigh, she continued reading it, bracing herself for another call from Emily's father, who could never seem to understand why his brilliant little girl was always getting such horrible grades in class. She suspected that the only reason Emily was a junior in high school, let alone in honors classes, was because other teachers had given in to his nagging and just let the girl go on. "There was a gorgeous young lady," the story continued, "whose step-mother always left her to babysit her spoiled, bratty step-sister. The girl hated it. But no one knew that this hot king dude had, like, totally fallen for this gorgeous chick and gave her awesome magic powers!"

_Oh dear heavens, _Sarah thought, _I've died and gone to hell._ She tossed the paper on the table and wearily rubbed her temples before going into the kitchen to get a glass of wine and set the coffee maker up. She could clearly see that this was going to be a night where she needed them both. With the blatant plagiarism not-so-hidden in Emily's, she couldn't wait to give it back to the girl with a big red F on it. She couldn't grade only hers though, so, thoroughly annoyed, she sat back down to grade the papers.

The next morning, she bashed her alarm clock off with a grunt, blearily checking the time before stumbling out of bed. Six in the morning. She had had only four hours of sleep, and she needed to be at work in less than an hour. Particularly since she would have to talk to the administration today before dealing with her little plagiarist. It was school policy to expel persons guilty of plagiarism. She supposed she should look her best for that, so she gathered her wits about her and headed into the bathroom for a quick shower before hastily dressing in her best skirt, blouse and dress shoes, painting on some minimal make-up, and grabbing a mug of coffee before rushing out to her car with the papers.

It had taken less effort to bring the administration over to her point of view. All she had to do was show the principal Emily's paper, show him her old ragged copy of the labyrinth, and he was on board to take care of the rest, though she would need to be there for it. She stood fidgeting in the office while waiting for the principal to locate Emily and have her first period teacher send her into the office. She stifled a groan as Emily sashayed into the office, her trade-mark smile in place, showing no hint of guilt, though she did hesitate for a second when she realized Sarah was also in the room.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Hammond?" Emily asked as she stopped in front of the principal's desk.

He stood. "Yes. It has come to our attention that you have been practicing plagiarism, Ms. Watson. Do you have anything to say about this?"

Emily's eyes flickered to glare at Sarah for a second. "I'm not entirely sure what you mean, Mr. Hammond. Plagiarism is copying stuff, right? I certainly haven't done that."

Mr. Hammond pulled a book out from a desk drawer and flipped through until he found the page he wanted. "These are the District's policy on plagiarism, Ms. Watson. As you should well know, since your teachers include one in every syllabus they give you. ' Cheating and plagiarism constitute fraudulent misrepresentation for which no credit can be given and for which appropriate sanctions are warranted and will be applied, including dismissal or expulsion.' 'Plagiarism, according to , is 'the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author.' I'm sorry to say, Emily, that this paper you turned in to Ms. Williams yesterday, fits this definition to a T. There are undeniable parallels between your story and this book, the Labyrinth, was it?" He glanced at Sarah for clarification and she nodded. "Would you care to explain to me why this parallels exist, Ms. Watson?"

Emily was clearly beginning to lose a bit of her self-assuarance. She had crossed her arms and was looking increasingly annoyed. "Fine," she pouted. "I wish the Goblin king would come and take both of you away, right now!" Sarah sucked in a sharp breath.

Mr. Hammond looked at the teenager in complete disbelief, obviously wondering whether he should call the girl's father and perhaps the nice men in white coats. "This is no laughing..." he began, only to stutter to a stop as the lights flickered and lightning flashed though it had been a sunny day mere minutes before.

Sarah continued to hold her breath as she waited for the familiar figure that haunted her dreams, and on rare occasions her mirror as well, to appear. He didn't dissapoint, bursting into the room in a puff of glittering smoke, wearing the black armor Sarah had first seen him in, with black highlight in his blond hair, and those inhumanly arched eyebrows, and the glitter above his mismatched eyes. She was never really sure how he managed it, but she was certain the look would never work on any man but him. Any other man would look absurdly feminine, but Jareth simply looked deliciously, malevolently, male. The look in his eyes and the way he held himself shouted that he was a being far above mere mortal concerns.

Shaking herself out of her distraction, Sarah stepped forward to meet him. She took slight pleasure in the way his eyes widened ever so slightly before he caught himself and his habitual disdainful smirk appeared.

"Wishing people away again, are we, Sarah?" he asked, and Sarah fought the tingle that wanted to race up her spine in response to the way her name sounded in his decadent voice.

"You know very well that it wasn't me, Goblin King," she replied, hopefully sounding more sure than she felt.

A hint of a mischevious twinkle appeared in his eyes. "Ah, yes. It seems you've been the one wished away this time." He stalked through the room, his cloak flowing behind him as he glanced around, his sharp gaze taking in Sarah's boss and the foolish girl who was staring at him with wide eyed astonishment. "And you, child," he sneered ominously, "are the one who summoned me. What gave you the impression that I took multiple people? Or adults?"

"But-tt..." Emily stuttered, "Why wouldn't you?"

"Why wouldn't I indeed? Adults don't turn into very good goblins, I'm afraid. Foolish, spoiled young girls on the other hand, do. After all, they are already most of the way there." he mocked before turning to Sarah, who was trying not to laugh at the expression on Emily's face, while at the same time wondering what Jareth was up to.

"I propose a bargain, dear Sarah. If you come with me to my kingdom, I will let these two go." He grinned, seeing her denial coming. "I will of course return you here in time for your next work shift."

Sarah frowned at him suspiciously. "What's the catch?"

His grin turned wolfish. "I will expect your presence in the castle once a week, for twelve weeks. If, after the fifth week, you wish to end our agreement, you will be free to do so."

"And if I don't agree to this bargain?"

"Why, I'll take your principal and your little student, of course. I'm sure I can find some use for them. Perhaps I will let them wander around the labyrinth for a while. It might be entertaining." His grin was beginning to get on Sarah's nerves. She pondered the bargain, wishing she saw another way out. But she didn't.

She sighed. "Fine, but only for two weekends," she countered.

"Seven."

"Three."

"Very well, five."

She glared at him but nodded. "Five." She looked around the room noticing that the other two people in the room had completely frozen. She looked up at Jareth, only to realize that he was standing much closer than he had been a moment before. His grin turned wicked as he pulled her against him and they disappeared in a cloud of dust.

Author's Note 2.0

As previously mentioned, I intend to post other chapters as soon as I am able. And here I've been promising myself that the next time I post a fanfic it'll already be done. Oh well. I swear I will finish this, I've got it mostly planned out, unlike my poor star wars fic from six years ago now. It shouldn't be too long, but I promise nothing. It really was supposed to be a one shot. Comments, questions, constructive criticism, and grammar/spelling corrections are welcomed and even encouraged, and quite possibly rewarded with a reply, digital cookies and/or stickers.

About the Story:

Earlier today, I noticed that a rather well known Labyrinth fanfic author, whose work I am quite fond of, had taken down all but the first chapter of her stories here as of a couple months ago. I followed her profile link to her sight, and saw to my scholarly rage that she had been having problems with people plagiarizing her works, and just like that, a rabid horde of plot bunnies descended on my brain and wouldn't let me be. I would like to hope that this story might discourage people from doing such things, though I'm a bit too jaded to be certain that it will.


	2. Underground for a Moment

_Disclaimer: I still own nothing, except for my OCs and my dastardly plot bunnies._

Chapter 2

Sarah blushed as they reappeared in the hall of the castle, realizing Jareth still held her pressed against him. Not meeting his gaze, she pushed against his chest to get away while trying not to notice just how nice a chest he had. She took a deep breath after managing to pull away and finally looked up to glare up into his mismatched eyes suspiciously. "You've got what you want. Here I am, in the castle beyond the goblin city. Now what?"

"I can't simply want only your company, precious?" he asked, putting a gloved hand to the chest as though her doubt had mortally wounded him. The mischief in his eyes kept thwarted his attempt at innocence.

Sarah rolled her eyes, exasperated. "We both know very well, Goblin King, that things between us are never so simple."

_Even when there is a mirror and a entire realm between us, _she mused to herself. She had kept in touch with her friends off and on through the years, more off than on, if she was honest. One day, it hadn't been Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus waiting in the mirror though. It had been Jareth, imperiously informing her that her friends were off on an important mission, and if she wanted any assistance from the Underground, she would have to bargain with him for it. She had of course covered the mirror as fast as possible. Of course, he was there the next time she tried the mirror, ready with a scolding for her rudeness. She had again quickly covered the mirror in righteous fury. It had gone on this way for quite awhile before she had actually given in and spoken with him, though she had quite successfully avoided any bargains with him. Until now. She sighed and glared up at him.

"Such a weary sigh, Sarah." he said quietly, and she valiantly tried to ignore the beautiful, melodious quality to his accented voice. "Is it truly so terrible to be back here, in the Underground?"

"I suspect that will depend. How long are you keeping me here?" Sarah asked, still glaring.

He smirked, " I did promise that you would be returned before the next time you have to try to instill some intelligence and culture in those dreadful children you insist on calling young adults." Sarah felt herself starting to relax. "Of course, originally I would have been happy returning you after only a few hours per week. But then you offered me entire weekends of your time. As I understand it, today is Friday in the above world, and the weekend does not truly start until tomorrow," his smirk grew bigger and Sarah began mentally kicking herself. "I suppose that means I shall have to return you to the above world until then."

With a flourish of his hand, a crystal appeared and Sarah abruptly found herself in the hall outside her apartment. She supposed she really shouldn't be surprised that he knew where she lived, should perhaps even be slightly grateful that he hadn't teleported them directly into her mess of a bedroom.

"Oh, Sarah," he called as she went to open her front door, causing her to turn back to face him where he stood looking utterly out of place among the neutral brown and creams of the hallway. "What exactly caused that girl to summon me?"

Sarah felt another burst of annoyance as she thought of Emily, oddly mixed with a bit of amusement at the poor girls expression when her invocation worked. "She had just gotten in trouble for writing this and calling it her own," she said wryly, handing him the paper copy of Emily's work Sarah had in her purse. She laughed softly as Jareth's expression turned to one of affront as he skimmed through the story. She frowned as a thought occurred to her. "Jareth? What will the principal think happened today?"

He glanced over the paper. "He will remember nothing from the point before the girl summoned me onward, of course. I can hardly let too many mortals run around with knowledge they shouldn't have. As far as he and the rest of the school are concerned, you were feeling unwell and left early, after your meeting. This Emily was suspended from school for an indefinite period while the administration of your school looks into the situation of this rubbish," he said with distaste, gesturing with the papers before making them erupt in a rain of glittery smoke before disappearing completely.

He glanced over Sarah as if just now noticing what she was wearing. She told herself that was most certainly not appreciation he was looking at her with. And any feelings she had were simply relief that the situation with Emily was handled and she still had a job since her boss remembered nothing. His gaze returned to her face and his habitual smirk reappeared. "I'll see you tomorrow Sarah. You needn't dress quite so stuffily. I expect you'll bring a change of clothes with you, since you will of course be spending the night at the castle." With one last glance down at her bare legs below the knee length hem of her skirt, he finally disappeared himself, right back out of Sarah's life. At least for the moment.

Sarah definitely felt another migraine coming on as she let herself into her apartment. She set her purse down on the table just inside the door and was setting her keys down as well when she realized her car was still at the school and groaned. She would have to call one of her friends to drive her to her car. First, though, she was getting out of these ridiculous heels and skirt and into some nice comfy jeans and a tee shirt. Some days she really wondered why she had thought dressing in such outfits would be fun when she was a teenager. Her aching feet certainly assured her that this one aspect of growing up sucked.

She glanced at the clock. Somehow, it had managed to go from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon, just in the short time she had spent in the underground. She shook her head at the apparent mutability of time anytime it suited Jareth, then headed to the bathroom. Refreshed after a quick shower and wearing much more comfortable clothes, Sarah settled onto her couch before reaching for her phone to call her friend to get her car. That done, she leaned back and just sat for a minute, rubbing her head and trying in vain to think of anyway to keep from having to fulfill her bargain, or at the very least, to not have to stay the night at the castle. It had been rather grungy last she was there, with the chickens and goblins running amok making disaster areas wherever they went, and she hoped any guest rooms the castle might have were nothing like that. She certainly couldn't imagine Jareth sleeping in such squalor, then mentally kicked herself again for thinking of Jareth and sleep. She was _so_ not letting her mind go there.

There was a knock on the door, and Sarah rose, gathering her keys and purse before heading out to her friend, who was known among their mutual friends as Sara without the h. Maybe she'd see if Sara wanted to go to a movie after they got her car. She would suggest drinks, but tomorrow promised to be trying enough without adding in a hangover. Whatever they ended up doing, she was going to do her best to relax tonight, and not worry herself half to death about tomorrow.

Authors Note

* * *

><p>Sorry if this chapter seems a little short or feels like filler to anyone. It seemed necessary to me, particularly in relation to the first paragraph of chapter one.<p>

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or added this story to their update list. All of it makes me ridiculously happy. I declare cookies for all. Also, a happy little animation can be found at my live journal, which those interested can visit by clicking the webpage link in my profile. My fanfic is also posted there.

**Shahrezad1 **: Glad my twist is interesting :-) The author in question isn't really a friend-to be honest, I don't know her at all and she probably doesn't realize I exist, but I appreciate your words greatly and quite agree with them none the less.

**Kyra Kitsune: **Truly, I don't understand it either. The only thing I can think is that perhaps people plagiarizing fanfics have tried to post their own before and have been so dissapointed by the lack of reviews that they saw this story, by an author who hasn't been very active here in a couple of years, has over 1,000 (or was it 2,000?) reviews, that they decided to copy it, changing a few things, so they could enjoy all those reviews themselves. Still certainly no excuse for such behavior.

Anyways, I'm happy you are enjoying my little fic here.

**HachimansKitsune **: lol thanks, and here is your more. Hope you enjoyed it as well :-)


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